NHL Star Power Index: Capitals’ Alex Ovechkin on goal-scoring tear, Hurricanes’ Martin Necas heating up

Welcome to the NHL Star Power Index: A weekly gauge of the players who are controlling substantial buzz around the league. When a player is included on this list it may not be a good thing — it means that they are capturing a large amount of the hockey world’s attention.

These players are in no particular order when it comes to the amount of buzz that they’re creating. We’ll revisit the Star Power Index every week throughout the regular season.

Alex Ovechkin entered the 2024-25 season chasing Wayne Gretzky’s all-time goals record, and reaching that mark could soon become a reality.

After an extremely productive week, Ovechkin finds himself just 33 goals away from tying Gretzky’s record of 894 career goals. Ovechkin has racked up four goals and five assists over his last four games, and tallied consecutive three-point outings against the Montreal Canadiens on Oct. 31 and against the Columbus Blue Jackets on Nov. 2.

In doing so, the Capitals forward becomes the fourth player in NHL history to record back-to-back three-point performances at 39 years or older. Ovechkin joins the likes of Jean Ratelle (Nov. 27-29, 1980), Tim Horton (March 5-6, 1969), and Gordie Howe (Oct. 27-31, 1968) as the only players to accomplish such a feat.

Ovechkin also tallied a goal in a 4-2 loss against the Carolina Hurricanes on Nov. 3 to give him a goal in four consecutive games. He also became the first player since Jaromir Jagr (March 20-25, 2013) to record a four-game goal streak at age 39 or older. 

Most recently, Ovechkin extended his goal streak to five games when he tallied a goal and an assist against the Nashville Predators on Wednesday.

Wednesday’s contest was deadlocked at 2-2 midway through the third quarter when Ovechkin made his mark on the game. At the 10:25 mark, Capitals forward Dylan Strome was able to dig the puck free behind the net and found Ovechkin for a sensational one-timer that found its way over the shoulder of Predators goaltender Juuse Saros. 

That ended up being the game-winning goal as the Capitals topped the Predators 3-2 on Wednesday. The tally was the 130th game-winning goal of Ovechkin’s career, and only Jaromir Jagr has more game-winning goals (135) than the Capitals star.

Following Ovechkin’s recent hot streak, the 39-year-old is on pace to score 55 goals this season. While he likely won’t be able to keep up with that pace, Ovechkin is only 34 goals from breaking Gretzky’s record with not even a quarter of the 2024-25 campaign in the books. The record certainly is in the realm of possibilities as Ovechkin has gotten off to a much more productive start than he did in 2023-24.

Martin Necas has really ramped his scoring efforts over the last week and continues the pace the Carolina Hurricanes in the majority of offensive metrics.

Necas currently leads the Hurricanes in goals points (20), assists (13), and power-play assists (6). On top of that, Necas is scoring on a 25.9% of his shots, good for second on the team.

Necas has tallied three goals and six assists across his last three games, and he’s riding a four-game goal streak. The Hurricanes star racked up three points (a goal and two assists) in a 4-2 win against the Washington Capitals on Sunday. His goal ended up being the game-winner to lift the Hurricanes past their Metropolitan Division foes.

The Hurricanes center also showcased a flair for the dramatic when he also scored the game-winning goal in a 6-4 win against the Philadelphia Flyers on Tuesday. 

In the final minute versus the Flyers, the two teams were knotted at 4-4. The Hurricanes had possession of the puck and forward Jesperi Kotkaniemi uncorked a shot that was stopped by Flyers netminder Aleksei Kolosov. However, the Flyers weren’t able to clear the puck out of the crease and Necas deposited a rebound into the back of the net.

Necas’ goal gave the Hurricanes a 5-4 advantage with just 29.3 seconds remaining in the third period. Carolina did add an empty-net goal courtesy of winger Seth Jarvis and came away with a hard-fought 6-4 win.

Necas has gotten extremely hot as of late with all seven of his goals coming over the last three weeks. If Necas can continue to remain hot, the Hurricanes certainly could be a force to be reckoned with in the Metropolitan Division.

Vancouver Canucks defenseman Quinn Hughes has been ramping up his offensive production in a big way of late. 

Hughes has recorded a goal and five assists in his last three games, while tallying back-to-back multiple-point performances in his last two contests. The veteran defenseman has also racked up at least a point in four of his last five games.

Hughes really displayed his offensive acumen in the third period when he helped the Canucks distance themselves from the Los Angeles Kings on Thursday. At the 2:44 mark of the third period, the Canucks were clinging to a 2-1 lead when Hughes made his mark on the game.

The Canucks captain found himself stick-handling at the blue line when some pace eventually opened up. Hughes was able utilize a screen from teammate J.T. Miller in front of the net, and accurately placed the puck past Kings goaltender Darcy Kuemper to extend the Canucks lead to 3-1.

Prior to that, Hughes also tallied the primary assist on a goal from Vancouver forward Jake DeBrusk that originally gave them a 2-1 advantage.

Hughes has cemented himself as one of the league’s top two-way defensemen. He currently ranks third in the NHL in points (14) behind only Cale Makar of the Colorado Avalanche and Josh Morrissey of the Winnipeg Jets. 

Hughes has picked up right where he left off after winning his first career Norris Trophy as the league’s top defenseman. With Hughes’ strong play on the blue line, the Canucks look like they could be a dominant force in the Western Conference yet again in 2024-25.

The Winnipeg Jets have gotten off to the best start in the NHL with a 13-1-0 mark to begin the 2024-25 season. While they are averaging 4.5 goals on a nightly basis, a great deal of their success can also be traced back to the terrific play in the crease from goaltender Connor Hellebuyck.

As should come as no surprise given the team’s dominance, Hellebuyck has tallied an NHL-best 10 wins. Still, Hellebuyck has also racked up a 1.91 goals-against average and a .932 save percentage, which both rank second across the league.

According to MoneyPuck, Hellebuyck has produced a .967 save percentage when facing unblocked shots on the season. 

Hellebuyck has recorded back-to-back shutouts to help the Jets keep their winning ways alive. Most recently, the veteran goaltender turned aside all 35 shots that he faced in a 1-0 win against the Colorado Avalanche on Thursday. While the Avalanche aren’t quite at 100% right now, it’s still downright impressive to keep the opposing team off the scoreboard when he’s being peppered with that many shots.

In fact, Hellebuyck has surrendered two goals or less in three of his last four games in front of the league’s top scoring offense.

Hellebuyck is a stabilizing presence in between the pipes and definitely has earned the status of being an elite netminder. Winnipeg certainly looks like a juggernaut thus far this season, and Hellebuyck’s play could keep them looking that way.